Statement by Sandra Feldman
President, American Federation of Teachers
on Smallpox Vaccination Compensation

(Congressional Democrats and the White House have reached agreement on compensating healthcare workers and other first responders harmed by the smallpox vaccine.)

Healthcare workers and other designated first responders who receive the smallpox vaccination and become disabled will be inoculated against financial disaster. Democrats in Congress, particularly Sen. Kennedy and Reps. Dingell, Waxman and Capps, stood firm on doing the right thing for people who suffer complications from the vaccine. Now with White House agreement, healthcare workers and others who become disabled due to the smallpox vaccination will be compensated. These frontline workers can make a more informed choice about whether they want to receive the vaccine.

AFT and its healthcare division, AFT Healthcare, worked diligently with Congress to include this compensation package in the emergency appropriations bill that should pass Congress today. It’s the right thing to do for those who work to keep our nation safe and healthy.

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The AFT represents more than 1.3 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers, paraprofessionals and other school support employees, higher education faculty, nurses and other healthcare workers, and state and local government employees.